Gourt > Science > Social Sciences > Psychology > Sensation and Perception > Synaesthesia
Synaesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia, synesthesia); from the Greek (syn-) “union,” and (aesthesis) “sensation,” is a neurological rarity in which two or more of the senses are interconnected, resulting in a more holistic experience. For example, music may be seen as colour or a forest may be heard as a poem. Synaethesia should not be mistaken for artistic interpretation; synaethestes are not simply interpretting but actually perceive reality on a fundamentally different level than non-synaestheses. Because synaethesia is rare, occuring in only 1 % of the population, many synaetheses don't realize that their experiences are abnormal. Clinical synesthetic studies show:
- Synesthesia is genetic but it is not hereditary. It is consistent throughout life and often sets the synesthetic child apart from non-synesthethic parents, by which the child will begin displaying vastly different thought processes as young as adolescence. A synesthete is born with the ability to perceive numerous concepts on alternative levels.
- Synesthetes have an excellent memory for the triggers of synesthetic experience, such as music, literature and science. They are, on average, more intelligent than then general population, scoring high in IQ and cognition testing.
Public Lecture: The Individual or the Group
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Oct. 21, Tuesday -- Physicist, pacifist and independent thinker Freeman Dyson will give a free, public lecture, "The Individual or the Group?" at 7 p.m. in the AGR room of the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center on the UC Davis campus. Dyson will discuss how his thinking on this basic question, which is at the root of our ethics, laws and politics, has been influenced by scholars in the humanities, law and evolutionary biology. Dyson has written several popular books about science and the future of mankind, including "Disturbing the Universe," "Weapons and Hope," "Origins of Life," "Infinite in All Directions," "Imagined Worlds," and "The Sun, the Genome and the Internet." He is currently professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. He has received numerous awards, including the Lewis Thomas Prize in 1996, honoring the Scientist as Poet. In 2000, he received the $1 million Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion from the Templeton Foundation. Dyson's visit to UC Davis is part of the Department of Physics' Centennial Speaker Series, supported by contributions from members of the department, by the Office of the Chancellor and Provost and by the dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
Risque Subjects and Risky Politics
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Oct. 14, Tuesday -- Back before the Internet, how did an ordinary person learn about risque subjects and risky politics? Through "little blue books," published for a nickel apiece, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies a year through much of the 20th century. Essayist, critic and blogger Scott McLemee will talk about the blue books, how ideas get out and how idea-peddlers make money from people's desire to learn on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at Bistro 33, 226 F St., Davis. His talk, "Sex, Socialism and Self-Education," will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by a reception at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. McLemee has been a maverick voice on culture and politics for more than a decade. A former contributing editor for Lingua Franca and senior writer at the Chronicle of Higher Education, in 2005 he helped start the online news journal Inside Higher Ed, where he serves as essayist at large, writing a weekly column called Intellectual Affairs. He also blogs at the online arts journal Quick Study. He is a winner of the National Book Critics Circle award for excellence in reviewing. The talk is part of the Public Intellectuals Forum, a series of public lectures sponsored by the UC Davis Humanities Institute and UC Davis Center for History, Society and Culture. For more information, contact Jennifer Langdon at (530) 754-0331 or visit http://dhi.ucdavis.edu/?page_id=651.
Latino Spin: Public Image and the Whitewashing of Race
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Nov. 6, Thursday -- Illegal immigrant, tax burden, job stealer. Patriot, family-oriented, hard worker, model consumer. Since becoming the largest minority group in the U.S., Latinos have been caught between these wildly contrasting images. Arlene Davila, a cultural anthropology professor at New York University, will explore what these caricatures suggest about Latinos' shifting place in the popular and political imagination in a free public lecture on Thursday, Nov. 6, at Bistro 33, 226 F St., Davis. Her talk, "Latino Spin: Public Image and the Whitewashing of Race," will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by a reception at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Described by Dominican-American writer Junot Diaz as "the finest, fiercest and most piercing of our public intellectuals," Davila is a professor of anthropology and American studies at New York University and the author of "Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City" and "Latinos Inc: Marketing and the Making of a People." The talk is part of the Public Intellectuals Forum, a series of public lectures sponsored by the UC Davis Humanities Institute and UC Davis Center for History, Society and Culture. For more information, contact Jennifer Langdon at (530) 754-0331 or visit http://dhi.ucdavis.edu/?page_id=651.
A reason we call our cheddar 'sharp' and shirts 'loud' - Article in New York Times. [Note: Requires free registration.]
American Synesthesia Association - Arranges meetings and provides means for the people who experience and/or study synesthesia to be in contact with each other.
Catalyst - Synaesthesia - Transcript from the Australian science program Catalyst about synaesthesia.
Meta Description: [ Catalyst is a program that sees science as a dynamic force changing our world. Each week Catalyst will bring a mixture of Australian and international stories, from science breakthroughs investigating the implications, the ethics, and the politics of the particular issue, to stories about how sci... ]
CBS News - 60 Minutes II: A Sixth Sense - An article about the TV show. Synaesthetes tell us about their experiences. There is also a video clip where synaesthete Carol Crane describes what music feels like.
Meta Description: [ Synesthesia is a common condition in which two or more senses are hooked together. Those who have it often keep quiet for fear of being different. Vicki Mabrey reports. ]
Do You See What They See? - An article in Discover magazine by Brad Lemley about synesthesia.
Meta Description: [ Neuroscientists think people with synesthesia might open a window into the ultimate mystery of human consciousness. Visit Discover Magazine to read this article and other exclusive science and technology news stories. ]
Doctor Hugo - Museums of the Mind - Exploring the art and mind connection: sources on Synaesthesia and the Arts, research on the future of the senses. Homepage of the Belgian Synaesthesia Association.
Meta Description: [ Synesthesia and Art. Research and theory on the future of the senses. Homepage of the Belgian Synesthesia Association. ]
Edward M. Hubbard - A researcher at the University of California who studies synesthesia through the use of perceptual experiments and brain imaging.
Everyday fantasia: The world of synesthesia - Article by Siri Carpenter in Monitor of Psychology. Researchers are coming closer to understanding what drives synesthesia.
404
For some, pain is orange - Article in Smithsonian Magazine.
Meta Description: [ Articles from the Smithsonian Institution's award-winning, monthly general interest magazine, plus exclusive Web articles, videos, blogs, photographs and more. ]
Gamers set for sensory overload - An article by BBC about a video game, inspired by the artist Kandinsky, aiming to stimulate the senses.
Meta Description: [ A video game inspired by the artist Kandinsky aims to stimulate the senses with its stunning visuals and pulsating beats. ]
Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes - People with synesthesia are providing valuable clues to understanding the organization and functions of the human brain. Article in Scientific American.
Meta Description: [ Science and Technology at Scientific American.com: Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes -- [ NEUROSCIENCE ] -- Science and Technology from Scientific American: daily science news and technology news, science trivia, science experts, science newsletters, science shop, science books and more ]
Is There a Normal Phase of Synaesthesia in Development? - Simon Baron-Cohen's article in Psyche. His theory states that all human neonates have synaesthesia, but loose it after about four months.
Kaleidescope eyes: making sense of a novel gift - A news release from The University of Melbourne, Australia, about its research on synaesthesia.
Meta Description: [ News from the University of Melbourne ]
Kaleidescope Eyes: The Secrets Of A Novel Gift - Article in ScienceDaily Magazine about research on synaesthesia at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Meta Description: [ They are a phenomenon. Tuesday may be yellow, the middle C note on a piano could have an earthy, musky smell and the word grass might elicit the color purple. This is not a disorder; these people do not suffer. Australian PhD student, Anina Rich considers these people to have an unusual gift. As ... ]
Letter-Color Synaesthesia - Cassidy Curtis describes how his colored letters and words look to him.
404
Man views words and numbers in color - Article in MSNBC's Health section about synesthesia.
Meta Description: [ Our web servers cannot find the page or file you asked for.The link you followed may be broken or expired. ]
Mixed Signals - Information of about different types of synesthesia, a message board for synesthetes, a survey and an event calendar amongst other things.
Psychic powers may be a quirk of the brain - Article in Medical Study News about researching showing that psychic powers that enable people to see auras might be synaesthesia.
Meta Description: [ Supposed psychic powers that enable people to see auras around others may simply be a quirk of the brain, according to a University College London (UCL) study of a rare form of synaesthesia where some people see colourful auras around their loved ones. ]
Retroglobe - Synaesthesia - Christian Liljeberg's description of his colored numbers, letters and time units.
Synaesthesia - Sean A. Day's mailing list, for synaesthetes and other interested, has its home here. A lot of information about what synaesthesia is and the different types of it. There is also a list of synaesthete authors and composers, and links to the experiences of synaesthetic individuals.
Synaesthesia - A compilation of information from the internet and traditional sources. Includes explanations of the different types of perception.
Synaesthesia and Education - A research project at The University of Cambridge about the effects of synaesthesia on numerical cognition in children.
404
Synaesthete.com - A place for people with synaesthesia to compare notes, experiences, artwork and ideas.
Synesthesia - An interview with Dr. Richard Cytowic and Carol Steen on ABC Radio National. Transcript.
Synesthesia - A few articles about synesthesia. A part of Webcam.org's Synthetic Synesthesia section.
Synesthesia - Ariannel describes her synesthesia and shares her thoughts on the subject.
Synesthesia - A Real Phenomenon? Or Real Phenomena? - Luciano da F. Costa's article in Psyche #3. Synesthesia may encompass a series of related physical phenomena in the brain.
Synesthesia - the mixing of the senses - The term synesthesia means the joining of senses, and the implication is that environmental exposure instigates the preferred development of sensory biased areas; at birth differentiation is minimal.
Synesthesia and Artistic Experimentation - Crétien van Campen's article in Psyche about synesthesia among mid-nineteenth century artists.
Synesthesia: Phenomenology And Neuropsychology - Richard E. Cytowic's keystone article in Psyche. A review of current knowledge on synesthesia.
Synesthesia: Richard Cytowic, MD - Pioneering neurologist and author Richard Cytowic, MD explains brain basis of colored hearing and other joined senses.
Meta Description: [ Articles, books, and lectures by the pioneering neurologist who rediscovered synesthesia, Richard Cytowic, MD. Resource guide to synaesthesia by pioneering neurologist Richard E. Cytowic MD. What synesthesia/synaesthesia is and isn't. Synesthesia/synaesthesia downloads and encyclopedia. Richard E... ]
The Prometheus Institute - The Prometheus Institute's site about synaesthesia and art. Texts in English and Russian.
The strange world of synesthesia - An article by CNN about synesthesia.
The Synesthetic Experience - Factual information, individual anecdotes, and interactive activities which simulate synesthesia.
They see where others hear - Article in San Francisco Chronicle about what synesthesia is.
Truly feeling blue - Article in The Scotsman about an author who has based a book upon her daughter's synaesthesia.
Meta Description: [ When Hannah Morgan was three years old, she told her family that Mondays are red. Her mother, Nicola, thought little of her daughter’s comment, until some while later when Hannah made this statement again - and then again. As time went on Morgan... ]
404
Weird Science - An article in Financial Times describing synesthesia.
| The Thrillseekers feat Sheryl Deane synaesthesia music video.. ... | |
| Next Video | |
